Self-feeding inkwell



FQSIZS, 1935- J. 1.. CUNNINGHAM 1,992,473

SELF FEEDING INKWELL Filed Aug. 15, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOHLV JZzmes L. Gunnz'nyham,

Y fiww ATTORNEYv Patented Feb. 26, 1935 I I 1,992,473 :SELF-FEEDING INKWELL James'LOunningham, Kansas City, Mo.' Application Augustin, 1934, Serial No. 739,956

' e Ciaims. o1.12 o 59) UNIT-ED STAT-ES fATENT. OFFICE Myv invention relates to a self-feeding inki The upper portion of the ink-well 6 is prowell in which an elevated reservoir is. employed vided with a close fitting'lid 22 to reduce evapofor automatically supplying theink-well as the ration'of the'ink toa minimum. The lid 22 is ink is used therefrom i operably connected to the rear portion of the nut In carrying out the invention a duct isem- 20.by. a hinge 24 and provided at its under per- 5 ployed for connecting the ink-well with the. ros tion. with a downwardly and rearwardly extendervoir so that the latter may be, filled by tilting ing tongue 26 equipped with a catch 28' adapted the entire device to an angle of about forty-five to engage a lip '30 on the nut 20 and thus limit degrees and pouring ink into the ink-well. Said the. opening movement of said lid as shown by duct also serves to conduct the ink from the dottedlines, Fig.4. The front portion of the 1g reservoir back into the ink-well as needed when lid 22 has a cavity 32 for insertion of the thumb the device is in position for use. whereby the lid may be raised to the open posi- An air tube connecting the ink-well to the tion disclosed by, dotted 1ines, Fig. 4. A chanreservoir is employed so that air. within thelatnel 36 is formed in the underside of the tongue ter may be readily displaced by the ink during 26and extends substantially the-entire length the filling operation. thereof. The sides of the tongue 26 and the The lid of the ink 11 i provided t t channel 36 diverge towards their forward ends, derside with a channel so that when said lid is i s- 1 K1 t Pmvide a Wide DOIlJiOII for the opened it constitutes a spout-for conducting the reception of the mouth of a bottle or other ink ink into the ink-well from a bottle orother concontainer durin th Operation of fi a reser- 20 tainer without wastage during the filling operavoir 40.

tion. 'The reservoir 40 is mounted upon the rear The device may be of plain or ornamental deportion f he ba e 2 to Which it removably 7 sign as preferred. secured by suitable means such as studs 42 and Other features will hereinafter appear and nuts 44. Communication between the ink-well 25 in order that the invention may be readily un- 6 and the reservoir 40 is established, by suitable derstood reference will now be had to the aca s Such a a duct 46 leading o the bo lcompanying drawings, in which: tom of the reservoir 40 to the funnel-shaped rear Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device with portion 10 of the ink-well. Communication is the ink-wells removed from the base. also established by means of an air tube 48 lead- 301 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the bas ing from a point near the bottom of the ink-well with one of the ink-wells in position therein. to the upp inn p rti f the res rvoir 40. Fig. 3 is an irregular vertical cross section on In p a t t reservoir 0 a be s pp d line 3-3 of Fig. 4, with the reservoir removed. W t ink by first raising e lid 22 t the dotted Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view of the line posi o and en tilting the entire 35 complete device. device backwardly at an angle of about forty- In carrying out the invention I employ a holfive degrees. The mouth of a bottle or other low base 2 provided at its forward portion with ink o tain r is app to the w d upp r p a suitable number of grooves 4 for holding pention of the channel 36 and the container is then 11 paper clips, pens, pins and the like, tilted until suflicient iHkflOWS down said channel 40 6 designates one of the ink-wells, two of whi h 36 and through the ink-well to fill the reservoir are provided in the present instance, but since 40 to the desired depth. The channel 36 and the they are duplicates only one will be described in funnel-Shaped real portion '10 f t k-Well detail. The bottom 8 of the ink-well 6 slopes cooperate in directing the ink to the reservoir downwardly and rearwardly towards the funn l- 40, so that there is no danger of wastage if rea- 45 shaped rear portion 10 of said ink-well. The s na l a i exercised during h filling pupper portion of the ink-well 6 is provided with eration. As the ink flows into the reservoir 40 a neck 12 which fits snugly within the respective it p a e the air therein which escapes through opening 14 in the base 2. The neck 12 is rethe air tube 48. When the device is restored to mgvably secured in the opening 14 by means of normal position, that is'with its base 2 in a 50 a shoulder 18 and an annular nut 20 which lathorizontal plane, ink flows from the reservoir 48 ter is threaded in said neck. The shoulder 18 through the duct 46 into the ink-well 6 until the abuts the underside of that portion of the base lower ends of the duct 46 and the airtube 48 2 surrounding the neck 12 and the nut 20 overare submerged. When this occurs the flow of V laps said base. ink from the reservoir 40 is checked until enough 55 ink has been used from the ink-well to partiall3?v uncover the lower end of the duct 46, whereupon the ink again flows from the reservoir until the lower end of the duct becomes submerged.

From the foregoing it will be understood that as ink is used from time to time the level in the ink-well will be automatically restored to normal with ink flowing from the reservoir through the duct 46.

While I'have shown the --device arranged for two ink-wells, it is to be understood that a greater or less number may be employed by f orming the base 2 accordingly.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have provided adevice which is well adapted for the purpose intended, and while I.

have shown one embodiment of the invention I reserve all rights to such other forms and modifications thereof as properly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A device of the character describ'ed comprising abase having an opening therein, an inkwell located within said opening, a lidoperably mounted upon said ink-well and provided'at its underside with a channel extending to the rear margin of the lid and adapted to direct ink into the ink-well when the latter is tilted. rearwardly and the lid is opened, a reservoir mounted upon saidbase, and a duct connecting the inkwell and said reservoir.

2. 'A device of the character described comprising a base having an opening therein, an inkwell having a neck snugly fitting within said opening, a shoulder on' said ink-well for engagement with the underside of that portion of the base surrounding theopening, an annular nut threaded on the neck and overlapping the upper side of the base, a lid for the ink-well hinged to said nut, a catch on the underside of the lid, a lip'on the nut in the path of said catch to limit the opening movement of the lid, a reservoir mounted upon said base, and a duct connecting the ink-well and said reservoir.

3. A device of the character described comprising a base, an ink-well supported by said base and provided with a funnel-shaped rear portion, a lid operably mounted upon said inkwell and provided at its underside with a channel extending towards said funnel-shaped rear portion and adapted to direct ink to the latter when said lid is opened and the ink-well is tilted rearwardly, a reservoir mounted upon said base, and a duct connecting the funnel-shaped rear portion of the ink-well and said reservoir.

4. In a device of the character described, an ink-well, a hinged lid for said ink-well, a tongue on the underside of said lid extending rearward and terminating in a catch, and means for coacting with said catch in limiting the opening movement of the lid.

5. In a device of the character described, an ink-well, a hinged lid for said ink-well, a tongue on the underside of said lid extending rearward and terminating in a catch said tongue having a longitudinal channel therein, means for coacting with said catch in limiting the opening movement of the lid, and a reservoir communicating i with the ink-well to supply the same with ink.

, 6. In a device of the character described, an ink-well, an annular nut removably engaging the upper portion of said ink-well, a lid for the inkwell hinged to said nut, a catch on said lid, and a lip on the nut arranged in the path of said catch to limit the opening movement of the lid. Y

JAMES L. CUNNINGHAM. 

